203 Popularity

What is the best way to become popular? Stephen Turban, Harvard University student talks with ShaoLan about how in ancient Chinese culture, the lace edge of a traditional garment came to be linked to the idea of fate, popularity and personal relationships. If things don’t go so well, ShaoLan and Stephen even talk about where best to attribute the blame, from the perspective of the Buddhist monks.

The Chinese word for popularity is 人緣/人缘, which is made up of the characters 人 “person” and 緣/缘, which means “fate.”